Q&A WITH PAULINE ROWSON
Tell us an interesting fact you love about Portsmouth.
There are too many to mention but it has a great literary tradition — the birthplace of Charles Dickens, home to Nevil Shute, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, Olivia Manning and, between 1882 and 1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a practising doctor in Southsea. It was during this period that he created Sherlock Holmes. So you could say that Portsmouth is the birthplace of the greatest detective that ever lived — and yes, he did live!
Is there a fact about Detective Inspector Andy Horton we don’t know yet?
Bound to be. Maybe I don’t know it yet myself!
What was the first thing you did once you finished writing The Hayling Island Murders?
Started writing the next book.
Who would you want to play Andy Horton in a film/TV adaptation — and why?
That is always a difficult question to answer. I never describe his looks in the novels so different people visualize him in different ways. I’d want an actor who was fit, with rugged good looks. I’ll leave it to my readers to come up with ideas, and would love to hear their views! I’m always delighted to hear from readers about casting ideas or anything else at: www.rowmark.co.uk/contact/
Otherwise it’s down to the production company if and when the series is optioned for film or TV!
What are you currently reading and watching?
I’m re-reading all of E.C.R Lorac’s crime novels, and at the moment I’m currently on Checkmate to Murder, a Second World War mystery published in 1944. It’s a tantalising and atmospheric mystery, as are all her novels. A secretive miser is killed in his dilapidated house on a dismally foggy night in Hampstead in London and Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is sent to investigate. I’m watching (again) Gideon’s Way, starring John Gregson as Scotland Yard Commander Gideon, adapted from the books by talented crime writer John Creasey. It’s an interesting and entertaining detective series with some great actors filmed between 1964 and 1966 with real scenes of a London you would not recognize today, with children playing in car-free streets, and the teeming docks.
How do you celebrate publication day?
I open the champagne!
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